Wednesday, July 21, 1999

Locals lining up to aid Bush

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Texas governor gets most donations

BY PAUL BARTON
Enquirer Washington Bureau

George W. Bush

        WASHINGTON — As GOP presidential candidate George W. Bush prepares to return to Cincinnati for a fund-raiser Thursday, records show the area already has been kind to him.

        The Cincinnati metropolitan region, which includes ZIP codes in Northern Kentucky and southeastern Indiana, contributed $330,196 to Mr. Bush's campaign in the first six months of 1999, according to figures from the Center for Responsive Politics. The Washington center is an independent organization that tracks cam paign dollars.

INFOGRAPHIC

Tristate contributions to presidential candidates

        The presidential candidate with the next highest dollar total from Greater Cincinnati is Republican Elizabeth Dole, with $91,650.

        Vice President Al Gore is the leading Democratic fund-raiser in the area with $61,900 raised so far.

        It's a sign of the fund-raising steamroller that the Bush campaign has become nationwide that Cincinnati, despite its generosity, ranks as only the 23rd- highest metro area in terms of giving dollars to his campaign.

        Dallas ranks first with $3.2 million, followed by Houston with $2.5 million. Mr. Bush has raised a record $37 million.

        From just Cincinnati addresses — as opposed to ones from other parts of the metro politan area — Mr. Bush has raised $303,896, out of $451,041 raised in Ohio as a whole.

        Among Cincinnati ZIP codes, three of the most lucrative for Mr. Bush have been:

        • 45243 (Madeira, Indian Hill): $101,050.

        • 45208 (Hyde Park): $50,829.

        • 45202 (downtown): $43,967.

        The center's records also show Mr. Bush has raised $103,175 in Indiana and $215,850 in Kentucky.

        The organizers of Thursday's fund-raiser insist the city is far from finished in giving to Mr. Bush's campaign and that the numbers will grow significantly.

        “It is going to be a very good number put on the board Thursday,” said Mercer Reynolds, who runs an investment firm with Bill DeWitt.

        While many of the traditional Hamilton County names already have given the $1,000 maximum that they can give to Mr. Bush for the primary, Messrs. Reynolds and DeWitt insist a new wave of GOP donors in the city will become evident Thursday.

        “It's a big groundswell for Mr. Bush,” Mr. Reynolds said.

        “This has been Bush country for a long time,” said Mr. DeWitt.

        Messrs. DeWitt and Reynolds have been friends and business partners of the Texas governor since the mid-1980s.

        Cincinnati attorney Edmund J. Adams, another Bush donor, said people were impressed when he came to the area last summer to help Gov. Bob Taft in his campaign. Mr. Taft endorsed Mr. Bush on Monday and will chair his Ohio campaign.

        “He's a very attractive candidate, and the Republicans would like to take the White House back,” Mr. Adams said. “I think he is a very attractive personality who stands an excellent chance of winning.”

        Stanley Aronoff, former president of the Ohio Senate, said young members of his Cincinnati law firm who have never given to a candidate before are giving to Mr. Bush.

        “I can personally sense people enthusiastically contributing to George W. Bush who rarely have contributed before,” Mr. Aronoff said.

        “There is a phenomenon going on right now. It is bringing in a whole new generation of people.”

        He added, “It is only recently that the avalanche seems to be forming.”

        For Mr. Bush's father and for 1996 GOP presidential nominee Bob Dole, the Cincinnati area was the third most lucrative in the country for presidential campaign fund-raising in the past two elections, behind Westchester County, N.Y., and Orange County, Calif.

       

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